Writing the "Michael Larsen" Way?

First off, I have to say "thank you" to my friend Jokin Aspiazu for inspiring this post today. He wrote a piece about writing a blog from your own experiences and how he found inspiration from a number of people, including me.

The statement that prompted today's blog post was the following. In it, Jokin is explaining different styles and approaches to writing a blog post, and ways in which those posts are done:

"The Michael Larsen way. He wakes up early, so he has time to write before his daily routines start. The thing is that if you write late at night, when the day is gone, you are going to be tired in body and mind. And your writing won’t be as fluid as you would like, and the next day, when you read your text, you will hear “I’m so tired…” in the background."

I have to say that this is mostly correct. If given a choice, I much prefer writing in the early morning over any other time of day. I think Jokin was referencing a comment I said to him at EuroSTAR when we were talking about the ideal times to do certain things, and that for me, that sweet spot is early in the morning, and by early, I mean any time before 6:00 a.m. The quote, as I remember saying it (because I do say this a lot ;) ), is that "I can get a lot done while everyone else I know and relate with is asleep".

Having said that, there are a few other things that I do, and I find them helpful as well.

The Voice Recorder on my Phone is a Really Good Friend

Oh, Voice Recorder, how kind you are to me. You make it possible for me to capture any insane and rambling thought I might have, and not lose it to the ether. I should also add I am grateful for the headphone and mic combinations now available with SmartPhones, because they make me look like less of a lunatic while I am walking down the street.

Some great spots where I can let loose with my thoughts are on my daily commute legs. I park my car about a half mile from the train station I use because I'm cheap and don't want to pay for a parking permit, but also because it gives me a bit of a walk each day. That walk is often a golden time to think out loud (something I do regularly), and having the voice recorder lets me capture all of that. Also, it gives people walking past me the impression I'm just talking to someone on the phone, so I'm not looked at as though I'm crazy ;).

Often, the ramblings don't amount to much, and those I tend to delete at the end of each week, but every so often, I'll find something that sticks, or that gives me a reason to say "OK, I want to explore that some more". Often that will result in something I want to write about.

Every Book Has a Story to Tell

Generally speaking, I love to read. Though my book buying habits have changed with Kindle apps and e-books, I still love having a lot of choices to choose from and read from. My SmartPhone has become my secondary reading device, but my first is my laptop computer. I often find myself reading books and grabbing passages or parts of a book that I have found interesting, and I pull them over into a Notes app that I use. Sometimes they sit there for months, but every once in awhile, something will happen, or I'll see something that jumps out at me and I'll say "hey, that fits into a problem I'm dealing with".

Very often, those discoveries are not limited to technical books or books about testing. I'm a fan of history, and I love reading about interesting things that have happened in the past, both distant and more recent. I often borrow the Dan Carlin quote of "history has all but ruined fiction for me", and that shows up in the things that I read. It's rare that you will find me reading fiction, though I do from time to time. Most of the time, it's non fiction of a historical, technological, or business perspective. Those lessons often make their way into my posts.

"That Reminds me of a Testing Story..."

I owe this phrase to the Cartoon Tester, aka Andy Glover. He used it as a comical way of showing the different type of testers out there, but it illustrated something I frequently try to do. Even in the mundane aspects of my life, I find things that both inform my testing, and also inform my view of the world as I see it, which in turn informs my testing. Something as simple as a way to mow the lawn, or deal with pests in the yard, or trying to manage the delicate balance of life in my fish tanks, or the daily dilemmas my kids face, or the often interesting and noteworthy events that happen in my role as a Scout Leader, all of these shape what often becomes an analogy to software testing. They may be helpful to others, they may not, but overall, I remind myself that they are helpful to me. Whether they be specific to ideas, events, or interactions with individuals, each of them informs what I do, and gives me ideas of ways that I can do it better... maybe :).

Again, I want to thank Jokin for helping me consider this, and give me a chance to respond a little more in depth. While everything Jokin says is accurate, I hope this gives you a little more of a glimpse into how I think and work, and how I like to gather material that ultimately makes its way into my blog. If these ideas help you to write better, more frequently, or at least think a little differently about how you write, awesome. If not, again, it felt good to give some additional thoughts as to what writing "the Michael Larsen way" actually means, at least to me.